Nissan Will Fix all LEAFs for Start-up Problem

Electric Car News | admin | April 16, 2011 at 6:02 am

Nissan will fix 5,300 of its Nissan LEAF electric cars for a software problem that has caused occasional problems in restarting the car after switching the motor off.

Nissan has found that the problem is the Vehicle Control Module, and affects ‘a very small proportion’ of the Nissan LEAFs in the market today.

The repair campaign will cover all 5,300 LEAF vehicles sold in Japan, North America and Europe. Of the total, about 500 of the cars have been sold to U.S. customers.

In an effort to minimize the inconvenience to these customers a message will be sent through the on-board telematics system early next week prompting the owners to contact their Nissan dealer to arrange reprogramming of the software to address this issue.

Nissan will also contact potentially affected owners through traditional channels to inform them about this issue.

Nissan said that, since the problem isn’t a safety issue – the car simply doesn’t start sometimes – and there is no official recall going on.

So far, the Leaf has sold 452 units in the U.S. and 3,300 units in Japan.